Indian People

PEMBROKE PINES -- American Indians from around the country are gathering at C.B. Smith Park this weekend to celebrate their native culture and to help the tiny Miccosukee Indian Tribe whose reservation was hit by Hurricane Andrew. "Indian people have been bringing supplies from as far away as North Carolina" for the Miccosukees, said Joe Braun, president of the Florida Indian Cultural Association. The association is putting on its third annual Labor Day American Indian Powwow today, Sunday and Monday at the park at 900 Flamingo Road.

The storyline has repeated itself throughout the Americas: Western explorers came ashore, established colonies and countries, and imposed their will on native societies. Saturday, two local groups of Mayans and American Indians met to discuss those parallel histories and how to move forward. "It was our right to defend our rights and customs and spirituality," said Herlinda Francisco, recalling Guatemala's violent civil war and the destruction of her village. "Twenty people were left. I was lucky with all my family that we could escape into the mountains, where we found trees with fruit we could eat."

As a child, Jo North would sit with her eight brothers and sisters around her mother, mesmerized by her stories of their Seminole heritage. "When my mother would tell us about Indian legends, she would sit there and draw little animals that were in the legends and use material from her seamstress work to show us color," said North, 33. Now an artist herself, North has entered her pen-and-ink drawings and paintings in the 15th annual Seminole Tribal Fair,...

Lakshmi Subrahmanian sat in her Coral Springs home on Thursday watching Indian election results that returned the Gandhi dynasty to power. Led by Sonia Gandhi, the Italian-born widow of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, the Congress party swept a majority of seats in Parliament, enough to form a new government. Gandhi is poised to be prime minister. "It certainly was a surprise," said Subrahmanian, South Florida president of the Association of Indians in America. "They couldn't find another Indian to lead the country.

Dear Abby: I think my problem is unique: My longtime boyfriend is addicted to television. He has it turned on all the time he's indoors and gets unreasonably angry if I turn it off. The constant distraction and noise drive me up the wall. Fortunately we don't live together. I have tried to convince him it's irritating, and have even insisted he use earphones in my home, but he complains bitterly about this restriction. The television in his home won't accommodate earphones, and those in hotels and motels are not equipped with earphones either.

Lakshmi Subrahmanian sat in her Coral Springs home on Thursday watching Indian election results that returned the Gandhi dynasty to power. Led by Sonia Gandhi, the Italian-born widow of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, the Congress party swept a majority of seats in Parliament, enough to form a new government. Gandhi is poised to be prime minister. "It certainly was a surprise," said Subrahmanian, South Florida president of the Association of Indians in America. "They couldn't find another Indian to lead the country.

THE PAS, Manitoba -- A lot has changed in this typical northern Canadian town since the chilly fall night in 1971 when four white teen-age boys crossed the bridge spanning the Saskatchewan River to cruise the neighboring Indian reserve for a girl and a good time. Back then, the movie theater in The Pas was segregated and Indians could not sit in seats reserved for whites. So were the schools and bars. It was a time when many townspeople -- indeed, many Canadians -- were not afraid to wear their prejudices against Indians on their sleeves.

The storyline has repeated itself throughout the Americas: Western explorers came ashore, established colonies and countries, and imposed their will on native societies. Saturday, two local groups of Mayans and American Indians met to discuss those parallel histories and how to move forward. "It was our right to defend our rights and customs and spirituality," said Herlinda Francisco, recalling Guatemala's violent civil war and the destruction of her village. "Twenty people were left. I was lucky with all my family that we could escape into the mountains, where we found trees with fruit we could eat."

WASHINGTON -- We may safely gaze at the American Indian artifacts that go on view Sunday at the National Gallery of Art, even though some of them have war powers and others are imbued with potential mischief. We`re protected from the hidden magic of the 150 objects because the spirits that inhabit them have been propitiated by a proper tobacco ceremony, leaving visitors free to marvel at the one of the finest collections of Native American art. The blessing was performed on the high catwalk of the East Building.

I want to personally thank you for writing the "City Meets Rez" story in the Sun-Sentinel ["At Home on the Rez," Lifestyle, Feb. 5]. The Miccosukee, indeed American Indians in general, have received a lot of bad press lately due to the unfortunate situation with Kirk Billie, and it's very good to see something positive being published. It is my hope that your story will help open the public eye to the fact that American Indians are people, nothing more, certainly nothing less! Tom Scott Southern Regional Support Coordinator, American Indian Movement of Florida, Hollywood Jews fled to Turkey The article "In Double Exile" [Lifestyle, Feb. 1]

Trading arms for ballot boxes, Zapatista rebels Sunday held their first nationwide political campaign to muster support for greater rights for the country's minority indigenous populations. At nearly 9,000 polling places, voters cast unofficial, non-binding ballots stating whether they thought the government should give the Indians -- among Mexico's most oppressed and impoverished peoples -- a greater voice in government and a broader range of civil rights. Indigenous people make up about 10 percent of Mexico's 98.5 million people.

Dear Abby: I think my problem is unique: My longtime boyfriend is addicted to television. He has it turned on all the time he's indoors and gets unreasonably angry if I turn it off. The constant distraction and noise drive me up the wall. Fortunately we don't live together. I have tried to convince him it's irritating, and have even insisted he use earphones in my home, but he complains bitterly about this restriction. The television in his home won't accommodate earphones, and those in hotels and motels are not equipped with earphones either.

Like most American kids, 8-year-old Arun Wanchoo's thoughts turn to fireworks at the mention of Independence Day. That's one reason his father thought it so important to take Arun to a different sort of Independence Day celebration on Sunday. Instead of fireworks, barbecue and beer, there were folk dances, brightly colored saris and samosas at Walter C. Young Resource Center in Pembroke Pines. More than 400 South Floridians gathered there to celebrate India's liberation from British rule 47 years ago today.

PEMBROKE PINES -- American Indians from around the country are gathering at C.B. Smith Park this weekend to celebrate their native culture and to help the tiny Miccosukee Indian Tribe whose reservation was hit by Hurricane Andrew. "Indian people have been bringing supplies from as far away as North Carolina" for the Miccosukees, said Joe Braun, president of the Florida Indian Cultural Association. The association is putting on its third annual Labor Day American Indian Powwow today, Sunday and Monday at the park at 900 Flamingo Road.

I want to personally thank you for writing the "City Meets Rez" story in the Sun-Sentinel ["At Home on the Rez," Lifestyle, Feb. 5]. The Miccosukee, indeed American Indians in general, have received a lot of bad press lately due to the unfortunate situation with Kirk Billie, and it's very good to see something positive being published. It is my hope that your story will help open the public eye to the fact that American Indians are people, nothing more, certainly nothing less! Tom Scott Southern Regional Support Coordinator, American Indian Movement of Florida, Hollywood Jews fled to Turkey The article "In Double Exile" [Lifestyle, Feb. 1]

Trading arms for ballot boxes, Zapatista rebels Sunday held their first nationwide political campaign to muster support for greater rights for the country's minority indigenous populations. At nearly 9,000 polling places, voters cast unofficial, non-binding ballots stating whether they thought the government should give the Indians -- among Mexico's most oppressed and impoverished peoples -- a greater voice in government and a broader range of civil rights. Indigenous people make up about 10 percent of Mexico's 98.5 million people.

WASHINGTON -- We may safely gaze at the American Indian artifacts that go on view Sunday at the National Gallery of Art, even though some of them have war powers and others are imbued with potential mischief. We`re protected from the hidden magic of the 150 objects because the spirits that inhabit them have been propitiated by a proper tobacco ceremony, leaving visitors free to marvel at the one of the finest collections of Native American art. The blessing was performed on the high catwalk of the East Building.

THE PAS, Manitoba -- A lot has changed in this typical northern Canadian town since the chilly fall night in 1971 when four white teen-age boys crossed the bridge spanning the Saskatchewan River to cruise the neighboring Indian reserve for a girl and a good time. Back then, the movie theater in The Pas was segregated and Indians could not sit in seats reserved for whites. So were the schools and bars. It was a time when many townspeople -- indeed, many Canadians -- were not afraid to wear their prejudices against Indians on their sleeves.